By: Linda Seida
LAMBERTVILLE With little fanfare and no comment from the handful of residents present, the City Council on Monday passed a municipal budget of $3,011,368 that will result in a lower tax rate for homeowners.
The owner of a house assessed at the citywide average of $211,515 will pay $8 less in municipal taxes in 2003. The tax rate is 24.6 cents for every $100 of assessed valuation. The 2002 tax rate was 29.8 cents for every $100 of assessed valuation. The average assessment last year, before a citywide reassessment was conducted, was $177,256.
The tax levy, or the portion of the budget brought in by taxes, is $10,000 less than last year, Mayor David Del Vecchio said.
Voting in favor of passing the budget were Councilwoman Cynthia Ege, Councilwoman Marie Warford, Councilman Steven Stegman and Mayor Del Vecchio. Council President John McManus was absent for the vote.
Revenues were higher than expected and allowed the city to increase spending while cutting taxes, the mayor explained when the budget was proposed last month. Increased revenue came in from parking meters, fees and permits. Parking meters were anticipated to bring in $139,899 but actually brought in $165,963. Fees and permits brought in $43,784 rather than the anticipated $29,237. Last year’s surplus of $464,158 also helped. The surplus was anticipated to be only $336,671.
The budget reflects a spending increase of about 4.7 percent over last year’s budget of $2.87 million. Much of the increase came from a sharp rise in the cost of health care, insurance and utilities. Despite the hike in those areas, the city managed to budget raises of about 3.5 percent for most city employees. The budget also allows for several new purchases, among them a new police car, a truck for the Public Works Department and an emergency generator for police headquarters.

